Consistency is the big thing with promising USC rush end Korey Foreman right now.

With USC announcing last week that Romello Height — a starter at the same position — would miss the rest of the season with an injury, it felt like the door might be open for Foreman — a sophomore and former 5-star — to start to make his move. Instead, the 6-foot-5 Corona native didn’t step foot on the field for the defense.

Asked why on Wednesday, USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was blunt.

“Practice,” he told reporters. “Just practice.”

Foreman played 34 defensive snaps in USC’s opener against Rice. Generally, coach Lincoln Riley liked what he saw. After offseason injuries limited his availability, Foreman appeared to be trending in the right direction.

A week later against Stanford, Foreman played fewer snaps. The week after that, even fewer still.

Grinch was asked a follow-up on Foreman later Wednesday, and had this to say:

“The conversation’s not about Korey,” he said. “The conversation is about every guy in our program being evaluated from an effort and execution standpoint. If you play at a high level and compete at a high level and do so with extreme effort, we will not only play you, but we will start you and we will champion you. You can insert name in front and you can insert name behind. That’s the expectation. Some guys are doing it, and some guys aren’t doing it at the level we anticipate and expect them to.”

Solomon Byrd, a former Wyoming player who transferred into the program this offseason, has burst onto the scene for the defense. He played 56 snaps at rush end against Oregon State and drew the start. Safe to say there’s a clear-cut top guy at the position with Height on the shelf.

We’ll find out soon if Foreman is able to take the benching as a positive and show a little more of what the staff wants to see in practice. USC welcomes Arizona State to the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. PT kick on ESPN.